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Apple posts statement on App Store Review Guidelines

By Charles Starrett ● Thursday, September 9, 2010

Apple has released a statement regarding its App Store Review Guidelines, promising to publish a definitive set of rules for the first time. “We are continually trying to make the App Store even better. We have listened to our developers and taken much of their feedback to heart. Based on their input, today we are making some important changes to our iOS Developer Program license in sections 3.3.1, 3.3.2 and 3.3.9 to relax some restrictions we put in place earlier this year,” said Apple in a release. “In particular, we are relaxing all restrictions on the development tools used to create iOS apps, as long as the resulting apps do not download any code. This should give developers the flexibility they want, while preserving the security we need.” This latter statement seemingly opens the door for developers to release apps and games built using Adobe’s Flash technology, so long as they don’t download any executable code.

The release also says that Apple for the first time is “publishing the App Store Review Guidelines to help developers understand how we review submitted apps. We hope it will make us more transparent and help our developers create even more successful apps for the App Store. The App Store is perhaps the most important milestone in the history of mobile software. Working together with our developers, we will continue to surprise and delight our users with innovative mobile apps.”

Update: Apple has posted a complete PDF of the guidelines online. Notably, the document states that Apple doesn’t need any more Fart apps, and that if a developer wants to describe sex, they should write a book or song, or make a medical app.